2point8

2point8 version 2.8

There’s nothing more self-centered than a blog post about one’s blog, but here it is:

The world may not need another online photo magazine, but I’m considering turning this space into something more polished and focused - a little less bloggy - a space for great streetish photography with a critical, editorial vision.

If you’re a designer and are interested in helping me turn 2point8 into a curated, dynamic resource for great photography that has at least half a leg on the street, please get in touch. An online street photography quarterly, let’s say, with lots of pictures that weren’t even taken on the street. And interviews. And reviews. Same same, but different! A redesign, with redirection.

There are a few things I still want to accomplish here, in this old, familiar space (a few more discussions, a few more looks at books) but in large part, because of my relocation to THE AMERICAN SOUTH, I’m having difficulty staying plugged-in to what drove me to start 2point8 in the first place. Plus, my tastes and interests are shifting and evolving.

from Fluffco via Ross Evertson

If you spend time looking at street photography (or ANY kind of photography) online, you soon realize how low the signal-to-noise ratio can be. There’s even a lot of work that’s good ends-up looking the same. I think there’s room for another site that curates great work online (like Blue Eyes, Humble, Making Room) and I’d like to build one. It won’t be built in Flash, though, sorry! There’s a lot of great work out there, and quite a bit of it gets buried by speed, indifference, and all that frenetic mouse clicking.

Mainly, I want to up the quality of content here, which means that posts will be a lot less frequent, before the makeover. I’m working on a bunch of offline writing projects and need to focus on them, in addition to summer photo projects.

Tangentially, I can only watch movies at night, when it’s dark outside. If the sun’s up, I’d rather be outside doing things, riding my bike around, looking at stuff. And there’s always (always?) the day job! Right now there’s a lot of sunlight which means there’s so much to engage with out there, in the big, wide world.

Thanks for your emails, conversations, support, comments, book loans & cupcakes. See you around and in between, and holler if you’re passing through Atlanta. Most important, if you’re a visual designer (and/or programmer) with some free cycles and this project smells good to you, get in touch, won’t ya?

11 Comments

I think there is huge room for more discussion and online exhibition of contemporary photography and visual art. My hope is that we can all continue cross-pollinating with enough serious and passionate interest.

Ross and I started MakingRoom because, at the time, there were a fair number of online gallery sites but less actual discussion with “image makers.” That has shifted a lot in the last year of course with people like yourself, Joerg, Alec, Raul, Jen, etc.

Another note of support on your goals for the blog. It is a good aim, less ‘bloggy’ more content, maybe more images and a push for more book related content. I must admit that your site is one of the few places I turn to when every photograph out there looks the same and feels less than living. So for those of us that depend on this blog to remind us that there is still work to be done - good luck and thank you so far for a great site. Just please keep sending out the gems like the Winogrand video…

hey michael! nice idea; just wanted to leave a notice in case you’d be interested in kind of a cooperation or network with our magazine subtitled. we haven’t had much time in the last couple of months but are also planning to restart the whole thing. maybe that could be a chance to work together in some areas? just drop me a line if you’d like to give it a try.